me, myself And i...A Look At Assam From The Bottom Up

Guwahati, April 26 : A forum, comprising around 6,000 people directly affected by terrorism, today announced that it would soon approach Dispur to press for inclusion of lessons about the pitfalls of militancy in the state’s primary school curriculum.

The Terror Victim’s Family Forum, Assam, an umbrella organisation of victims of militancy, have decided to press for the unique lessons with an aim to imbibe a sense of hatred for militancy in the minds of the upcoming generations of the state.

“We have been demanding justice for long, but in order to bring about positive change in the minds of the people, we must imbibe a sense of hatred towards militancy in upcoming generations. Hence, we want the primary school curriculum to include lessons about how 30 years of militancy in the state took lives of innocents, devastated hundreds of families and left a deep psychological impact in people’s minds,” the president of the forum, Brojen Hazarika, said today.

“This is just a plea from our side and we will urge the state education department to have consultation with state’s academicians, scholars and experts before incorporating the lessons,” Hazarika added.

The forum also wants the lessons to include the impact of militancy on society and the state’s economy.

It also believes that incorporation of the lessons would help thwart attempts by militant groups to attract the new generation into committing acts of terror or take to the path of violence.

“The process of dialogue with Ulfa, NDFB and few other militant groups are under way, but there is always a possibility of the birth of new militant groups and they will always try to recruit our new generations. So, if we can provide our children with proper lessons in school about militancy, it would definitely have an impact. If they are aware about the pitfalls of militancy, the young generation would think twice before taking to the path of violence,” another member of the forum said.

“The people in Assam have already faced many black phases because of militancy and we don’t want repetition of similar acts of violence. We want our future generations and the society to move ahead positively,” Hazarika said.

The forum was constituted by victims of terror attacks by militant outfits like Ulfa, NDFB, KLNLF and others in August last year.

It had moved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the state government, demanding judicial inquiry into each killing, and punishment for the killers through a judicial process.

They have also been demanding proper rehabilitation of the terror victims along with better security.

The forum had moved New Delhi last month and met Union joint home secretary Sambhu Singh with a charter of demands, including speedy trial of the pending cases related to militant attacks and inclusion of lessons about militancy in primary schools, among others.